3D photos are commonly created with the application of the lenticular technique. The transparent lens of the lenticular lens is an array of magnifying lenses. Such magnifying lenses array is designed in a way such that when being perceived at slightly different angles, different images are magnified. In order to create a 3D photo, multi-view angle images, such as in 12 or more multi-view angle images, must first be created. Subsequently, the multi-view angle images will be combined into a mixed image. The combination of multi-view angle images is a process of acquiring, from the multi-view angle images, suitable pixels for combining into and forming a new image. The new image comprises the multi-view angle information of the original image. The transparent lens of the lenticular lens is used to reveal the multi-view viewing angles from different viewing angles. Finally, the left and right eyes of the viewer can see different images through observing from the lenticular lens which produces a 3D effect.
Presently, different methods of creating 3D photos exist. In particular, the most common method is to convert 2D image into multi-view angle images using manual operation. Such method requires a processing time of several hours to several days. Normally, the operator is required to create a mask for extracting a subject from the target image. Then, the operator needs to assign a depth information to the mask based on his own judgment. The depth information is an independent grayscale image possessing the same dimensions as the original 2D image. The grayscale image applies the various shades of gray color to indicate the depth of every part of the image. The manually created depth information leads the computer to shift the pixel of the original 2D image for forming a new view angle map. The depthmap can produce a conspicuous 3D visual effect.
Another method is to photo-shoot the subject from multi-view angles. However, such method is not feasible when applying to subject in motion. Such method requires the set up of one or multiple cameras to capture the multi-view angle images. The image capturing device must be positioned with scrutiny so that the view angle of the image outputted would not be overly wide.
The multi-view angle image is used to reconstruct the mixed image. The majority of systems construct the mixed image directly from the data obtained in the multi-view angle images. Since the final image is a sub-sample of each multi-view angle image, the image obtained from such method cannot preserve the quality of the original image.
Based on the above, current 3D photo creation method and system contain deficiencies such as long processing time and poor photo quality.